NFL stars unite to show good things happen

STOCKTON - Tyrone Gross' vision of unity has become a reality as the city's football stars gather at Delta College this weekend to put on a summer skills camp.

Jagdip Dhillon

STOCKTON - Tyrone Gross' vision of unity has become a reality as the city's football stars gather at Delta College this weekend to put on a summer skills camp.

Gross, The Record's 2000 Player of the Year when he led Lincoln High to a Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship, has joined forces with Lavelle Hawkins and Lynell Hamilton, who put on a successful camp at Edison the past six years. The Legacy Football Camp, three days of on-field football lessons and off-field life-skills classes, is expected to have about 600 kids participate free of charge.

"We've had so many great players in this era and the goal was to get all these guys together and have one camp for the city - not the north side or south side - the city," Gross said. "We want to shine that positive light here and give our kids a chance to be proud of being from Stockton."

The camp put on by Hawkins and Hamilton has been a big success since 2008, but they jumped at Gross' idea of one centralized camp.

"We're just trying to build unity and teach people in this city how to come together on things," said Hawkins, who was The Record's 2003 Player of the Year and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in April.

They will be joined by Hawkins' new Tampa Bay teammate, Doug Martin, who starred at St. Mary's from 2005-06, and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl as a rookie for the Bucs in 2012.

"This camp is to show these kids that something positive can come from working hard and staying in school," Martin said. "Spreading this positivity through Stockton is definitely important to us."

Martin said growing up in Stockton, he was aware of the exploits of Gross at Lincoln and Hawkins and Hamilton at Edison, and he's now proud to be a part of Stockton's NFL legacy, which added Lincoln's Brandin Cooks, after the New Orleans Saints made him a first-round pick on May 8.

New Orleans also is where Hamilton played from 2008-10, including earning a Super Bowl ring in his final season with the Saints. The 28-year-old recently earned a master's degree in post-secondary education at San Diego State, while working as a graduate assistant at his alma mater the past two years. Hamilton said the camp has become a yearly highlight for him.

"The biggest thing for me is showing the greatness of the city," Hamilton said. "Anywhere I went, I heard a negativity about Stockton, but I carry being from here proudly on my shoulders."

Hamilton, who said he's been offered an assistant coaching position with the Oakland Raiders, will make the importance of education his main message this weekend.

For Gross, the camp is a major part of what he's doing around town with the TABLE Community Foundation. Gross' foundation has landed a contract with the Stockton Unified School District to operate its 12 after-school programs.

Said Gross: "I had people in this community that poured into me to help me be successful and I want to give some of that back."